A one-tonne cannon from the wreck of Blackbeard's pirate ship has been raised from the seabed after nearly 300 years.
A one-tonne cannon from the wreck of Blackbeard's pirate ship has been raised from the seabed after nearly 300 years.
Blackbeard, whose real name was thought to be Edward Teach is one of the most notorious British pirates to have sailed the seas. His ship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, was thought to have run aground and sunk off the coast of North Carolina, USA. His reign of terror across the West Indies and east coast of America lasted a mere two years before the British Royal Navy was sent to capture him in the early 18th century.
Blackbeard was eventually killed in battle. Lieutenant Robert Maynard cut off his head and hung in from the ship as a deterrent to other would-be pirates. The canon itself has been on the seabed since the ship sank in 1718 and be now will be hard to recognise as mainly encrusted with sand and salt.
The wreckage of the Queen Anne's Revenge was discovered first in 1996 and over 250,000 artefacts have already been discovered and brought to the surface for restoration and conservation.
The canon will be on public display for a short time and then taken for lab tests. The interest in Blackbeard, his hidden treasure and artefacts have great increased since the ship wreck was discovered. The parallels between Captain Jack Sparrow in the 'Pirates of the Caribbean' movies and Blackbeard have also increased interest in the history and legend of this once terrifying British pirate.
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